


Marauders' Reflexes

by meandminniemcg



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Aftermath of the Snape incident, Angst with a Happy Ending, Community: hp_drizzle, Faulty Weather charms, HP Drizzle Fest 2019, Lily is a good friend, M/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Pining, Quidditch, Spiderman comics - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-08-11 13:23:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20154304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meandminniemcg/pseuds/meandminniemcg
Summary: Mssr Padfoot asks the reader if they think "It's Raining Men" at Hogwarts has anything to do with a party.Mssr. Moony tells the reader to think again!





	Marauders' Reflexes

**Author's Note:**

> Written for prompt 175: "It's Raining Men"  
A big thank you to the brilliant mods of this fest and my lovely betas K., T and M. This fic owes its life to you.

## Remus

As I wait for the players to arrive on the pitch, for the Quidditch stands above me to fill with adoring fans I wonder if I should talk to Moaning Myrtle. I can’t talk to James or Pete about how I feel — all they want is for me to forget what happened, for everything to go back to the way it was before... But how can I? He told Snivellus of all people. I miss being friends with him, but I can’t trust him. I can’t trust anyone, except maybe James and Pete. The other students would want me put down, or at least expelled, and every teacher would want James, Pete, and Sirius to be expelled and carted off to Azkaban for being illegal Animagi.

I could make Myrtle keep my secret until two generations after my death. I read about a modification of the Unbreakable Vow that applies to ghosts, but it requires another ghost. Maybe I could persuade Nearly Headless Nick to help me. There isn’t much else to do but read, now that I’ve quit being a Marauder.

But what would I tell Nick to convince him to help without giving my secret away? Bloody hell! All I want is a simple life, not this constant bullshit.

Maybe the Sorting Hat was wrong. I’ve always thought I belonged in Ravenclaw, alone with books. The Hat said Gryffindor was where I’d find friends, but what use were friends you couldn’t trust? I could handle being alone— I was fine by myself before I came to Hogwarts, before I got used to having friends around. I guess it’s harder to go back to being alone once you’ve known how friendship feels. 

And fuck me, but I’d never learned to look away from Sirius. I know now how dangerous it was to trust him, but I still can’t resist staring at him when he sleeps or sitting under the Quidditch stands to watch his shapely bum on a broom even though Quidditch is as boring as Binns’ lessons. I never come to a game if Gryffindor isn’t playing, but even when Sirius is benched I’ll be there just to watch him smile as he cheers for his teammates. I watched the last match, as well as the last few practices from under the stands, peeking through between the drapes, the map folded up in my back pocket, just in case James or Peter start to wonder where I am. I can’t let anybody know, not even them. I definitely can’t let them know Sirius’ gorgeous features haunt me behind my bed curtains. The only thing his actions changed about my crush is that I now resent myself more than ever for it.

If the Hat had sorted me into Ravenclaw, I would never have known Sirius— never had these feelings for him. It would have been possible to have never noticed his gorgeous cheekbones when he smiles, the way he balances on a broom, but his handsome features might have been like those of a model in Wizards and Their Broomsticks — a fantasy but not something personal. And who knows...there are two handsome Blacks at Hogwarts. Maybe if I hadn’t already seen how cute Sirius looks when he is sleeping, the glint in his eyes when he has a mischievous idea, maybe then I could have indulged in fantasizing about Regulus instead. But it’s too late— I already know how kind Sirius is, the way he buys almond chocolate for his friends every visit to Honeyduke’s despite the fact that he doesn’t even like almonds.

I’d have never been able to properly fancy Regulus, his being a Slytherin wouldn’t have allowed that— not to mention all his Pureblood bullshit— but having a celebrity crush on someone who never even noticed that you exist would be easier to live with than fancying your best mate who betrayed your biggest secret.

Being from the House of Black really does makes them both like celebrities at Hogwarts. Everyone knows who they are, everyone gossips about Sirius’ flings with different girls and whispers that Regulus will stay a virgin until marriage, as per Pureblood tradition. I think the flings are just another way to rebel against his parents— he’s never really seemed infatuated with any of them.

Eventually I start to wonder why nobody’s appeared on the Quidditch pitch, why no fans are filling the stands. They should have arrived quite a while ago, but the stands are still empty. It doesn't matter. I need to start getting used to being alone again anyways.

  


## Sirius

The sight of Remus’ empty bed when I wake up makes me flinch. Before I drunkenly blabbed to Snivellus about how to get past the Whomping Willow, Remus would stay in bed and read on Saturday mornings, taking a piece of the almond chocolate I always buy for him. He looked so soft, propped up on one elbow among his blankets to read aloud to me. Sometimes I had to hide something on my way to the bath — just listening to Remus reading about sex is hotter than actually doing it with any other person. Remus’ voice is a magic of its own. I forfeited the right to even the smallest bit of it. He’s right to not give me the time of the day anymore. All I ever hear from him now is “Oh, it’s _you_” before he turns to leave the room, never wanting to be alone in the same room with me.

I deserve that. I betrayed him. By telling Snivellus, I proved everyone right- the people who say that Blacks are dark wizards, that I don’t deserve to be in Gryffindor. It’s a miracle that James and Pete still talk to me. I’d rather spend all my time as a dog now with their less complicated thoughts and feelings, but I haven’t allowed myself to transform since that night. I became an Animagus for Remus; I don’t deserve that ability anymore.

I ask James if he knows where the map is, but he just shrugs and tells me he misplaced it and won’t have time to look for it until after the match. Fuck! I just wanted to look at Remus’ footsteps on the map, to know where he is. I look through the window and see heavy clouds rolling in, pushed by a strong wind, but I’m not worried. The weather charms on the Quidditch pitch will calm the storm to a breeze and the downpour to a drizzle. We’ll be able to play regardless of the weather. Today’s match is against Slytherin. I’m looking forward to scoring goals and defeating Rosier and Crouch, at least as much as I can look forward to anything after having forfeited the right to spend time with Remus. I hope Crouch gets a Bludger into his face. He keeps making fun of Remus.

Most of my thoughts revolve around Remus. I’ve given up on trying to charm girls because one of Remus’ crooked smiles turns me on more than a blowjob. Obviously that means that I must be gay; I hope James stays friends with me when he finds out, because he definitely will find out sooner or later.

  
I follow James down to the Great Hall for breakfast where he forces me to eat something but everything I put in my mouth tastes disgusting and can’t pass the lump in my throat. I’ve had this problem ever since I ruined my friendship with Remus. I wordlessly vanish quantities of food from my plate with my wand under the table when Lily Evans’ laugh distracts James from his nagging at me.

Dumbledore rises from his place and makes an announcement. “Due to a slight instability in the weather charms, today’s Quidditch match is postponed until next week. The teams can still practice tomorrow, when the storm has subsided.”

James curses beside me. “I wanted to impress Evans!” James whines. I personally don’t give a fuck. Today, tomorrow, next week, never, Quidditch isn’t fun when Remus’ hazel eyes aren’t following me.

I stop pretending to eat and just vanish the rest of my food the next time James looks at Evans.

When James has finally finished his meal, we leave the Great Hall. I don't really know where I'm going, and honestly, I don't really care, I'm just following James blindly at this point.

“Potty! Blood traitor-Black!” Mulciber’s ugly voice rings out.

“What the fuck do you want?” James snarls. I grasp my wand, ready for anything.

“Dumbles may have cancelled the match, but you’ll fly anyway if you aren’t too chicken,” Rosier chimes in, coming to stand beside Mulciber.

“Is Regulus flying today?” I ask.

“Barty and Sev try to persuade him. But you’d better fly today, or we’ll attack Potter’s Mudblood if we get bored.” With that, the Slytherin idiots go through the door that leads to the dungeons.

Bloody hell, Reg is too inexperienced to fly today. He only became the Slytherin seeker this year. Even James shouldn’t, but I won’t be afraid to fly. I have nothing to lose.

“Prongs, do you plan on flying?” I ask.

“Yes, I need to keep their attention off Evans. Merlin knows what they would do to her.” He looks desperate.

“The plan is this: you stay close to the ground, and I do the stunts.” I hope he will do it, he has this wonderful family and Evans, and I’m a disowned idiot who drank too much firewhiskey recently and lost the purpose of his life.

“But I’m…”

“Don’t argue with me, you have only flown a broom so far. I have experiences with flying that discarded Muggle bicycle, and I’m working on getting the motorbike to fly. If someone is able to pull stunts under adverse weather, it’s me,” I snarl at him. He should take good care of himself, he has it all: loving parents, friends, Evans (who has finally shown interest in him), he’s still Remus’ friend, Quidditch captain and even head boy. He is important.

And if I weren’t there, maybe James would miss me for a month or two, maybe Pete would for a week, but nobody else would give a flying fuck. Don’t get me wrong, I want to live, but if I don’t, it would be the smaller loss.

And I can’t let them do anything to Evans. James has loved her since the moment he bumped into her on the doorsteps of Ollivanders the day both got their wands. So, even when she wouldn’t look at James without sneering, she had her place in our pack. I’m ready to do anything for anybody in our pack, and that very much includes her. 

## Remus

“Hey, Moony.” It’s Lily’s voice calling me. Recently she has taken up the habit of calling us by our Marauder names, too. Although as far as I know, she only knows why I’m Moony, she knows nothing about the others’ Animagus forms. And the only reason why she knows about my lycanthropy is that she sort of figured it out by herself in fourth year.

  
_She took me aside and said. “You are always ill when it’s full moon, which indicates that you are either a werewolf or trans. You can share my tampons instead of risking someone telling you bullshit.” “Thank you for offering me your help, but I’m not trans.” I replied before I thought maybe it would be better to let her think that._

_ “Oh my god, sorry, Remus, you really have lycanthropy? I’m sorry. And I joked about it.” She whispered, I thought she would be scared of me or spread the rumour, but instead she hugged me. “Your secret is safe with me.”_

  
I suddenly understood why Prongs is head over heels for her. Not that I would start fancying her, she’s not my type, but she can be fierce, and she’s compassionate, and clever. A good friend. Just not my type of hot. My type of hot is called Sirius Black.

“So, you seem to avoid everyone, and especially Padfoot, but whenever he can’t see it, you will look at him like a kicked puppy, and he looks at you like a dog who shat on the expensive rug,” she puts her hand on my shoulder, I have no idea if she does so to comfort me or to keep me from running away.

“’Shat on the expensive rug’! And you keep telling us to mind our language!” I try a distraction maneuver, knowing very well that it’s easier to distract McGonagall than Lily Evans. And McGonagall is normally as focused as a hunting cat.

“Remus! That’s not the point. It’s not my business what happened between you two, but I want to tell you if you need someone to talk to, you can trust me to keep your secrets." She looks into my eyes, and I want to say I'm fine, but as I take a breath, she says "Moony, don't say you're fine. Not, when your eyes are red from crying."

"Good, I'm not fine," I grumble. "He fucking did something that hurt me. I should be glad to be rid of him, I should think that in two months I won't have to ever see him again, and that in the meantime I can avoid him. But then I feel the urge to watch the idiot play fucking Quidditch. And I feel like he's a fucking magnet for my gaze!"

"Today there's no Quid - _oh shit!_" She claps a hand in front of her mouth, her eyes widened with fear.

I look at the pitch and see James, Sirius, Rosier and Mulciber standing on the pitch with their brooms.

"What's going on, Lily?"

"Looks like those idiots are planning to fly although the game is canceled."

I swear a blue streak in Welsh under my breath, while they release a Quaffle and kick off.

James stays close to the ground, but Sirius soars high above, heading for the goal. Something is horribly wrong, instead of following Sirius closely and trying to get the Quaffle, Mulciber and Rosier stay further away from Sirius and James.

“Lily, something isn’t right.” I whisper, just before I see what’s going on: Crouch stands on the Slytherin stands and fires a hex towards Sirius. He dodges it, but now Mulciber and Rosier try to cast a Confundus at Sirius. He can’t dodge three Slytherins at once.

Lily and I sneak closer, within casting range. Meanwhile James yells “Dumbledore’s coming!” and while the Slytherins look to see whether or not it’s true, he has already cast an Illusio Geminorum at Sirius. Dozens of illusion Siriuses are hovering in the air, all in the same pose as the original.

“Chickens! Run back to your snake pit and cry to your fathers!” James mocks the fleeing Slytherins.

Just as I think that Sirius is safe, the wind picks up with a howl. Sirius loses control of his broom and falls off. An army of Siriuses fall towards the ground like rain. When the first ones touch the ground, they disappear with a little pop like soap bubbles.

“Cast a Stabilis Spina!” I order Lily, before yelling the incantation of a levitating charm. I know I can only slow down Sirius’ fall and steer him towards me. I hope I can catch him.

While concentrating on steering Sirius, I hear Lily incant the charm. It doesn’t take precision, she can cast it on the air above the pitch, and every vertebrate flying above it will have an unbreakable spine for twenty minutes.

As I levitate him down, letting go and reaching out to catch him bridal style in the last second, I’m surprised that I actually manage to catch him. He is unconscious. I hear Lily shout. “All the fake Siriuses are gone. How did you know the real one was him?”

“No time for that. Call Pomfrey.” I gasp, only now realizing that I held my breath all this time. And then I kiss Sirius’ forehead, I can only explain it with being still under shock. I head for the castle, Sirius must be examined by Madam Pomfrey at once.

  
“How did you react so fast?” Lily asks me, when Madam Pomfrey has taken over and Sirius lies on a bed in the hospital wing.

“Marauders’ reflexes. We do emergency drills to pull off our pranks without casualties.” I don’t tell her that it was my idea, because Sirius is sometimes careless and Pete can only balance in his rat form.

“You people cast a Stabilis Spina? You saved his life by doing so.” Madam Pomfrey’s voice sounds impressed.

“It helped that Sirius loves the Spiderman comics and made me read them. I asked Lily to cast it. I was sure she didn’t know where the real Sirius was, but I knew that exactly because I can’t stop looking at him.” I clap my hand in front of my mouth as I realize what I just said, but Madam Pomfrey smiles at me widely.

“I know what you mean. When Minnie was still flying, I also couldn’t help but follow her with my eyes, I always fancied her, I wanted to give up, when after roughly ten years, she suddenly asked me to go on a date with her.”

  


## Sirius

The air smells of Remus, I hear something from far away, feel something like a kiss on my forehead. Maybe the angel of death is real. And why wouldn’t the angel of death smell of Amortentia? The angel seems to carry me in strong but tender arms and I drift back into the darkness of being unconscious.

  
“Mr. Black! Mr. Black! The voice sounds as if it came from far away across the darkness.

“Please, Madam Pomfrey, let me sleep, just a little longer, I’m dreaming that Moony is holding my hand.” I mumble into my pillow.

A familiar baritone voice chuckles into my ear. “Better wake up, or you’ll miss the fact that it’s real.” So, Prongs is there, too.

I brace myself for it all to disappear, but yet I struggle to open my eyelids, heavy as lead. “Moony?”

“Yes, you idiot. You would be dead if Lily and I hadn’t sat under the stands and watched everything. Can you tell me what I would have done without you? Why were you so stupid, taking all those risks?” Remus yells at me.

“I – I wanted to help James protect...Lily, and I had nothing...to lose after I was the most idiotic person in the world and lost you.” I feel the tears streaming down my face. And again my mouth can’t stop running, and I speak the words I wanted to keep secret forever: “I love you, Moons.”

“Don’t be daft, I had to forgive you. You haven’t lost me. Because I love you, too. But if you ever pull such stunts again, any of those bullshitty things you did recently, I’ll hex your balls off. And then regret it, because people say that sex is fun.”

I feel too flustered to tell Remus why he is supposed to love my balls, and not hex them off. 

“If I ever hurt you again, I’ll hex my own balls off.” I whisper instead, before he pulls me into a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> This story/art is part of an anonymous fest: drizzle 2019. Reveals will be in mid-october. Please do not repost anywhere else without explicit permission from the original creator.


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